The Highlands’ hub airport is gearing up for what promises to be one of its busiest weekends ever on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July.

The airport handled 50,052 passengers in May and expects around 4,000 passengers to travel over the weekend and an additional 1,000 meeters and greeters to use the terminal.

The introduction of easyJet’s daily Belfast route on 1 July and the departure of three holiday charter flights at the weekend are expected to take the airport to a record number of passengers over the two days.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is currently completing the construction of car park three at the airport which will provide an additional 85 spaces. Work on the new car park is scheduled for completion on 18 July. There are currently 550 charged for parking spaces available at the airport.

More than 330 scheduled flights operate every week between Inverness and London (Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton), Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Northern and Western Isles. easyJet’s new daily Belfast service starts on 1 July and its daily Bristol service on 7 July.

Inverness Airport manager James Walton said: “We have a very busy summer ahead of us with easyJet’s routes to Belfast and Bristol both starting in early July and a range of holiday charter flights departing to sunshine destinations.

“This will put the existing car parking provided by Inverness Air Terminal Limited under pressure. We are therefore asking people travelling from the airport to consider whether they really need to leave their cars at the terminal or if they might take alternative transport, including buses, taxis or simply to get a lift and be dropped off.

“Inverness is a rapidly expanding airport and will see significant passenger growth in the months ahead. Additional parking spaces will be available within weeks and we are also working on solutions to provide more parking capacity at the airport in the future to accommodate the continued expansion of the visitor gateway for the Highlands and Islands,” said Mr Walton.

ENDS